What can I do so my work isn't closely similar to others?

Question

I'm writing romance right now. I'm on the part where it's like a really good poem or a scene. You know, the one where you'll see it posted/quoted everywhere in Instagram or some other, but everything I write seems to be already written in some form.

Like for example: "Love isn't exactly about feelings and butterflies, it's a commitment."

Then I'll see everywhere posts that resemble it. At this point, I'm afraid to get sued or that others will think I'm copying which is the last thing I want people to think. What should I do?

Answer 1

If single sentences can be copyrighted, then virtually all writers have copied-pasted from other writers. Most artists copy ideas from previous material, so it is not unusual to have similar sounding sentences.

To answer your question head-on though, it is to read plenty of romance novels and stories, and figure out if the reason you are using the sentence in question, hasn't been copied word for word from somewhere else. Note, that while people can sue you for "copying", if you haven't read their work, then copying is impossible. They're also unlikely to want to go through the trouble, or even be aware of your work to actually sue you. As long as you are aren't actually doing it, and are copyrighting your work before publishing, I doubt that this problem might occur.